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Main:Imogen Cairns
Southmead, Bristol, England, UK |Row 4 title = Club |Row 4 info = The Academy |Row 5 title = Coach(es) |Row 5 info = Liz Kincaid |Row 6 title = Current status |Row 6 info = Retired}} Imogen Cairns (born 26 January 1989) is a retired British artistic gymnast. She competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2012 Summer Olympics. Career 2006 In March, Cairns competed for England at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. She contributed an all around score of 54.800 towards the English team's second place finish. Individually, Cairns won the vault final with a score of 14.325. In April, Cairns competed at the European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Volos, Greece. The British team placed seventh and individually she placed eighth on vault with a score of 13.850. In July, Cairns competed at the British Championships in Guildford, United Kingdom. She placed fourth in the all around with a score of 54.900. In event finals, she placed second on vault scoring 13.450, third on uneven bars scoring 13.500, fourth on balance beam scoring 14.100, and second on floor scoring 14.250. In November, Cairns placed fifth on vault with a score of 14.012 at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup event in Glasgow, United Kingdom. In December, Cairns placed seventh on vault with a score of 14.037 at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup event in São Paulo, Brazil. 2007 In April, broke her wrist and was in a cast for twelve weeks. After her recovery, she broke ankle. Her coach, Liz Kincaid said, "Imogen was vaulting with a wrist support on, and noticed during her hurdle step that the support had come undone. She tried to pull up and crashed into the vault and broke her ankle." These injuries caused her to miss the 2007 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. "I got over not competing for a while," she said. "I think you know when you can do it and when you can't and I couldn't." 2008 In April, Cairns placed fifth on vault with a score of 13.775 at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup event in Maribor, Slovenia. After the event she said, "I know internationally most people thought I had retired. Sorry, got me for a little while longer! Even in Great Britain people thought I had finished. I find it hilarious." In June, Cairns competed at the British Championships in Guildford, United Kingdom. Before the competition she said, "I don't really have any expectations. I really want to make the team and we are doing everything possible to make my chances bigger. Then, whether I do or whether I don't (make the Olympic team), I'm looking forward to 2009 and an injury-free year." She placed fourth in the all around with a score of 55.650. In event finals, she placed first on vault scoring 14.200, second on balance beam scoring 14.900, and first on floor scoring 14.550. Beijing Olympics In August, Cairns competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Originally she was named as the alternate but replaced injured teammate Laura Jones. She helped the British team finish in ninth place and individually placed thirty third in the all around with a score of 57.050. After the Olympics, Cairns injured both her ankles while practicing on vault. She said, "I ‘rolled’ both my ankles – the bones weren’t snapped but everything else was. I was out for at least eighteen months with that injury. I had drilling of the bone, two operations on each ankle and I couldn’t walk properly for six months. Ever since they’ve been good but they will never be great. Every now and then they are too painful and I can’t train. I have to have injections to numb my ankles and I’ve been told I’ll have arthritis in them by the time I’m thirty." 2009 Cairns decided to return to training. She said, "I thought about quitting because I was out for so long. I put on a bit of weight and got my social life back and I thought, 'This is it.' But when your whole life has been gymnastics, you do miss it. I thought, 'I have nothing to lose if I try to come back.' It was just pure determination. I wanted to do it." 2010 In July, Cairns competed at the British Championships in Guildford, United Kingdom. She placed fifth in the all around with a score of 54.550. In event finals, she placed first on vault scoring 14.000, fourth on balance beam scoring 13.200, and fourth on floor scoring 13.650. She said about her return to gymnastics, "I thought that getting to the Olympics in 2008 would satisfy me, but having battled through injury, I just have something inside me that tells me I have much more to give. Having been through the highs of the Olympics and lows of injury, I can honestly say I now take things step by step. I learn from successes and setbacks, and put these to good use. I think I've matured, and I set myself personal goals. The Commonwealth Games is my next major milestone and I'm looking forward to it." At the beginning of October, Cairns competed for England at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India. She contributed an all around score of 53.500 towards the English team's second place finish. "It's amazing, fantastic," she said. "We didn't expect anything but we did think we could get a medal if we all did our job." In the all around final she placed fourth with a score of 54.650. "One year ago I didn't think I'd be able to train again," said Cairns. "I think I was only just getting back to walking. Gymnastics just wasn't in the equation until my surgeon said that anything I did to my feet couldn't make them worse — so I decided to go for it again." In event finals, Cairns placed first on vault scoring 13.775, eighth on balance beam scoring 11.950, and first on floor scoring 14.200. After the vault final she said, "The gold today perhaps means more this time around, having been injured in both feet after the Beijing Olympics and being off for 15 months." Later in October, Cairns competed at the 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands. She contributed a vault score of 14.633, a balance beam score of 11.833, and a floor score of 14.033 towards the British team's seventh place finish. Then, Cairns placed eighth in the vault final with a score of 13.999. In November, Cairns won the vault final with a score of 13.937 at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup event in Stuttgart, Germany. Later in November, Cairns placed second on vault with a score of 13.875 at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup event in Glasgow, United Kingdom. 2011 In May, Cairns participated in the British Teams competition in Guildford, United Kingdom. She contributed scores of 12.900 on vault, 11.650 on balance beam, and 12.500 on floor toward The Academy's fifth place finish. In July, Cairns competed at the British Championships in Liverpool, United Kingdom. She placed first on vault with a score of 13.925 and third on balance beam with a score of 13.450. In October, Cairns competed at the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Tokyo, Japan. She contributed a vault score of 14.133 and a floor score of 13.700 towards the British team's fifth place finish. In December, Cairns was one of twelve British female sporting celebrities who posed for Clara Maidment, a charity calendar in aid of Wellbeing of Women, in the lingerie of Nichole de Carle, wearing jewellry by Salima Hughes and Coster Diamonds. 2012 In May, Cairns was set to compete at the 2012 European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships but was replaced with teammate Ruby Harrold to allow Cairns more time to recuperate from minor injures that had been bothering her. At the beginning of June, Cairns competed at an international friendly with gymnasts from Finland and Spain in Ipswich, United Kingdom which was also the second Olympic trial. She placed fifth in the all around with a score of 54.350 and third on floor with a score of 13.500. At the end of June, Cairns competed at the British Championships in Liverpool, United Kingdom. This is the third and final Olympic Trial to decide the gymnasts that will represent the United Kingdom at the Olympics. She placed fourth in the all around with a score of 55.500. In event finals, she placed seventh on balance beam scoring 12.450 and second on floor scoring 14.100. At the beginning of July, Cairns was selected to represent the United Kingdom at the 2012 Summer Olympics. London Olympics At the end of July, Cairns competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. She contributed scores of 14.266 on vault and 13.500 on balance beam towards the British team's sixth place finish. She retired after the Olympics Medal Count Floor music 2012 - "Grand Guingol" by Bajofondo